Newcomers to Ontario who were experienced, licensed drivers in another country may normally skip a requirement imposed on inexperienced, learning drivers: a year of supervised driving experience prior to taking a driving exam, according to a statement by the International Human Rights Program at the University of Toronto, which is helping with Al-Turki‚Äôs case. To bypass the one-year waiting period, newcomers are required to provide ‚Äúdocumentary evidence that they have held a valid driver‚Äôs licence in their home country for at least 24 months out of the past three years,‚ÄĚ the university‚Äôs statement said.

‚ÄúRefugees from war-torn countries often cannot access these documents,‚ÄĚ the university‚Äôs statement said. ‚ÄúIn cases of collapsed regimes or civil war, the relevant offices may not exist. Refugees also cannot return to their countries of origin or approach an embassy or consulate for fear of their lives or of losing their refugee status in Canada.‚ÄĚ

In Al-Turki‚Äôs case, the licensing agency in Aleppo was destroyed in the war, the notice of application said. Al-Turki, who has a wife and 10 children and whose home and material belongings were destroyed in Aleppo, received one year of federal government assistance, according to the notice of application.

At the heart of the case is the waiting period between the G2 licence and full G licence, says Hassan Ahmad, a lawyer representing Al-Turki who is also doing doctoral research on human rights at the University of Toronto.

‚ÄúPeople need to have driving experience when they come to Ontario if they want to get exemptions from the wait period; we‚Äôre not disputing that,‚ÄĚ Ahmad says. ‚ÄúIf you want to get an exemption to get your G licence, though, you also have to produce what is called a written authentication, and that‚Äôs the policy at issue that we are saying it discriminatory.‚ÄĚ

With a G2 licence, drivers face certain limitations, including limits on blood alcohol levels, night driving, number of passengers and age of passengers, according to the official Ministry of Transportation Driver’s Handbook.

‚ÄúThe requirement to have to get written authentication from your home licensing embassy or consulate ‚ÄĒ while it may be easy for immigrants that come to Ontario and can easily go back to their own country ‚ÄĒ for refugees, we are arguing that the government has not sufficiently considered the practical circumstances under which refugees come to Ontario,‚ÄĚ Ahmad says.

Al-Turki, who now lives in Mississauga, Ont., left Aleppo, Syria as a result of the Syrian civil war in 2016, with a Syrian driver‚Äôs licence valid through 2018. Al-Turki received his intermediary driver‚Äôs licence in January 2017 and did not receive his full licence until March 2018, leaving a few months between the end of government assistance and his full licensure.

‚ÄúMy client barely speaks English. He‚Äôs taking classes right now to improve his English, but you can imagine the position he‚Äôs in. You could say to him, ‚ÄėWell, why don‚Äôt you just go work in a Walmart? Why don‚Äôt you just go work in a McDonald‚Äôs?‚Äô Well, last I checked, you have to be able to have some basic English language skills to even apply to those jobs. . . . The difference with a driving job is that you don‚Äôt need to have those same language skills,‚ÄĚ Ahmad says.

Ontario‚Äôs policy on driver‚Äôs licences differs from those of other provinces, and the Ontario government could remove the requirement of written authentication of foreign driving experience for refugees and replace it with a certified French or English translation of a valid foreign driver‚Äôs licence. Some provinces have exceptions specifically for refugees and others have blanket policies, Ahmad says, and in the case of Ontario, there would be no need for legislation changes, since it would change a policy instituted in 2006.

A Ministry of Transportation spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

‚ÄúOther provinces, including Alberta, Manitoba and British Columbia, only require documentary evidence regarding past driving experience where the foreign driver‚Äôs licence lacks requisite information, such as issue date, photograph or date of birth. On the other hand, Ontario requires written authentication that is practically impossible to obtain from war zones and countries in conflict,‚ÄĚ the university said.

‚ÄúMy client, for instance, was working in construction for a little while. He actually got hurt on the job. He can‚Äôt do anything that requires physical activity,‚ÄĚ Ahmad says. ‚ÄúHe worked as a driver part of the time in Syria. It‚Äôs what he feels comfortable with. I understand that not everybody gets the exact job that they want.

‚ÄúBut given my client‚Äôs, and other refugees‚Äô, experience and education levels and language skills, driving is one of the suitable jobs for them and they don‚Äôt have the eligibility, the opportunity,‚ÄĚ Ahmad says. ‚ÄúFor all the lawyers out there wondering ‚ÄėWhat‚Äôs the adverse effect, it‚Äôs the lack of opportunity.‚ÄĚ

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